National Apprenticeship Week shines a spotlight on technical apprentices

Posted on: 13 February 2024 by Gareth Jones in February 2024 posts

Technical apprentices from across the faculty (From top left - Ben McLaughlin, Penny Boyle, Erwan Trochu, Dee-Anne Bentley, Morgan Brett)

To mark National Apprenticeship Week, we highlighted some of the exceptional technical apprentices working within our Faculty.

We went out and spoke with apprentices to learn more about their paths into apprenticeships, the valuable skills and experience they’re gaining and their exciting future plans.

Penny Boyle, an Animal Care Assistant with the Small Animal Teaching Hospital, described her journey onto an apprenticeship: “I’ve always wanted to work in animal care. Finding opportunities can be really hard, but I saw this apprenticeship on the government website and haven’t looked back.”

Erwan Trochu, a Research Technician with the Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences is currently doing an Operational and Technical Manager CMI Level 5 apprenticeship. Reflecting on the skills he’s learning Ewan said: “The apprenticeship covers a lot including management, leadership, finance and project management. I’m very happy to learn new skills, particularly in leadership management.”

Morgan Brett, a Technician in the Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, is doing an apprenticeship in Technical Science - Level 3. Morgan is a firm advocate of doing apprenticeships and emphasised their benefits, “It’s exactly what I was looking for. It’s very practical and about applying the skills you’ve learnt. I think it’s the best opportunity you can take when you are younger.”

The week also includes T-Level Thursday, which focuses solely on the achievements of T- level students on apprenticeship programmes. We were thrilled to celebrate the work of Kirsten, Will, James, Danill, Lennon and Jacob who came together for a ‘Team T-Level’ photograph!

National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) is organised by the Department for Education and takes place between 5 to 11 February each year.

You can see more of the featured apprentices in our National Awareness Week social media campaign.

(T-level apprentices - Kirsten Caughey, Will Cooper, James Jones, Danill Litisky, Lennon Roberts and Jacob Turner)